Is a digital print a photograph? (Page 6): I'm surprised surfers don't have better things to go on about. In the film days prints were called "prints" too, esp in the fine art world...

dhowland

I'm surprised surfers don't have better things to go on about. In the film days prints were called "prints" too, esp in the fine art world, but obviously everyone also said "photographs" ... I wonder if there are any other words that can be used interchangeably in this world?
http://www.grindtv.com/surf/surf-slang-10-terms-tube/#g9w4DBccDKkKFR0P.97

anotherview Loc: California

Thanks for this history.

burkphoto wrote:

Inkjet had a very bad reputation in the early days. Most inkjet prints were made with dye inks that faded rapidly under any UV exposure. Once pigmented inks became available, all that changed. So early pro labs and service bureaus adopted the new printers and called their prints 'giclee'. It adds several hundred percent to the price...

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

JohnSwanda wrote:

The term was originally used for prints from an Iris printer, the first fine art inkjet printer. And I think it still implies that the print is a custom print made with higher-end inkjet printers (which may or may not be true).

Yes, Iris. Yes, 'giclee' is still used (if rarely) to refer to Epson or Canon pigmented inkjet prints.

Always used as a revenue-enhancing descriptor... i.e.; it's mostly BS. The term, "pigmented inkjet prints" has become the honest and preferred designation among savvy professionals and collectors. When you hear that, you know what it is.

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

griffj98 wrote:

I photograph surfers as a hobby using a Nikon D810 camera. Sometimes I print up some of my better shots and hand them out free to the pictured surfer. I call them photographs but have had a couple of surfers correct me. They claim digital photography makes prints and not photographs. Is this correct? Is a print a photograph?

From the Web...

pho·to·graph
ˈfōdəˌɡraf/
noun

A picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused onto film or other light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment, or stored digitally.
synonyms: picture, photo, snapshot, shot, image, likeness, print, slide, transparency, still, enlargement, snap

revhen Loc: By the beautiful Hudson

Smudgey wrote:

The definition of Photograph ----"a picture made using a camera, in which an image is focused onto film or other light-sensitive material and then made visible and permanent by chemical treatment, or stored digitally." So your surfer was wrong.

Great quote. Where did you fined it?

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

burkphoto wrote:

HELL YES it's a photograph! br br The origin of t... (show quote)

a digital image differs significantly from a film print. dimensionality and amount of "information" i.e. dots per inch. any comparable negative/sensor size shows the "flatness" of the digital print; and a lesser amount of disecrnable "information" compared to the film print.
there is therefore a difference between a digital image print and a film print. the above disregarded surfers are correct. seems they know what they are seeing better than the digital image maker.

philo Loc: philo, ca

"At this point in time .............what different does it make"

wj cody Loc: springfield illinois

philo wrote:

"At this point in time .............what different does it make"

plenty

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

griffj98 wrote:

I photograph surfers as a hobby using a Nikon D810 camera. Sometimes I print up some of my better shots and hand them out free to the pictured surfer. I call them photographs but have had a couple of surfers correct me. They claim digital photography makes prints and not photographs. Is this correct? Is a print a photograph?

I suppose, one of my nit picks, it's the same as calling video "film"... wrong but that's what the world is doing.

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

Googled it.

revhen wrote:

Great quote. Where did you fined it?

jcboy3

griffj98 wrote:

I photograph surfers as a hobby using a Nikon D810 camera. Sometimes I print up some of my better shots and hand them out free to the pictured surfer. I call them photographs but have had a couple of surfers correct me. They claim digital photography makes prints and not photographs. Is this correct? Is a print a photograph?

Ask them if they want the photograph or not.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

wj cody wrote:

a digital image differs significantly from a film ... (show quote)

They are full of elitist bullshit.

When an early 2000s Epson inkjet print of actress Jodie Foster sold for $30,000, everyone at the PMAI DIMA convention knew we had a new medium to work with.

In 2005, Phillip Stewart Charis, one of the most prominent portrait photographers alive then, switched from using 5x7 sheet film printed optically to Canon full frame digital images printed on Epson printers. He displayed nine of these 60x40 and 40x30 prints in a PPA national convention session where he was given a major lifetime achievement award for his work. I was there; his portraits were gorgeous. NO ONE would have questioned his use of the word, 'photograph' to describe his work.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

jimmya wrote:

I suppose, one of my nit picks, it's the same as calling video "film"... wrong but that's what the world is doing.

Calling video 'film' is about the approach to production, not the medium. The only difference is the technology. The filmmaking *project* processes are the same, whether film or digital capture is used. Cinematography itself (a VERY small part of making movies) is a much better process with video.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

burkphoto wrote:

Calling video 'film' is about the approach to production, not the medium. The only difference is the technology. The filmmaking *project* processes are the same, whether film or digital capture is used. Cinematography itself (a VERY small part of making movies) is a much better process with video.

All true but when someone is shooting video and says they're "filming" it just gets under my craw I guess... same with photo or print. They should be separate terms because the photo is contained in the print.

Zion2 Loc: Las Vegas, NV

I agree that a photograph is from a film camera. It is nitpicking to have someone comment when you do a picture free! Simply stated: Digital photos are just that, digital dots stored on a medium to be reconstructed by your printer. May it be monochrome or color, the process is the same, dots of different intensity, color etc laid down on the paper to form the original image taken by the digital camera!
The film cameras are totally different. They capture light in one complete image. The lens focus the captured image onto the light sensitive chemicals on the film. Once it is captured, it has to be developed to take away the unneeded materials to form the image producing the negative or positive which ever you are using at the time. Then a print can be produced by contact or projection methods.
Personally, I prefer the digital camera. It is extremely fast and many times less problems. If you don't get the first shot, shoot again!
It is imperative to use the best photo paper and best quality printers. With a good system, it is extremely hard to see the difference without a magnifying glass.
This information may or may not be exactly correct but it is close. I know some expert photographers may have a different explanation but for the ordinary home photographer, it will be close enough for general information.